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His Pretend Wife
Andrew Blake is the heart surgeon who will operate on Elinor's daughter, Hetta. He's also the man Elinor nearly married....
Andrew has helped them so much--saving Hetta's life and finding them a new place to live. Elinor finds she still loves Andrew, but didn't she lose her right to his love years ago? Now single dad Andrew asks Elinor to live in his home, and become his housekeeper and childminder, almost like a pretend wife. Elinor agrees--for all their sakes--but can she ever be Mrs. Blake for real...?
- GenresRomance
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 2002
1 person is currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Lucy Gordon
692 books90 followersChristine Sparks was born in England, UK. She wanted to be a writer all her life, and began by working on a British women's magazine. As a features writer, she gained a wide variety of experience. She interviewed some of the world's most attractive and interesting men, including Warren Beatty, Richard Chamberlain, Charlton Heston, Sir Roger Moore, Sir Alec Guiness.
Single life was so enjoyable that she put marriage, and even romance, on the back burner, while she went about the world having a great time. Then, while on vacation in Venice, she met a tall, dark handsome Venetian artist, who changed all her ideas in a moment, and proposed on the second day. Three months later they were married. Her friends said a whirlwind romance would never last, but they celebrated their 25 anniversary, they are still married, still happy and in love.
After 13 years on the magazine Christine decided that it was now or never if she was ever going to write that novel. So she wrote Legacy of Fire which became a Silhouette Special Edition, followed by another, Enchantment in Venice. Then she did something crazy gave up her job. Since then she has concentrated entirely on writing romances for Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Silhouette and has written over 75 books. Her settings have been European and her heroes mainly English or Italian. Christine now claims to be an expert on one particular subject. Italian men are the most romantic in the world. They are also the best cooks.
A few years ago she and her husband returned to Venice and lived there for a couple of years. This proved the perfect base for exploring the rest of Italy, and she has given many of her books Italian settings: Venice (of course), Rome, Florence, Milan, Sicily, Tuscany. She has also used the Rhine in Germany for Song of the Lorelei, for which she won her first RITA Award, in 1991. Her second RITA came in 1998, with His Brother's Child, set in Rome.
Eventually Christine Fiorotto and her husband returned to England, where they now live. She write and he paints, they have no children, but have a cat and a dog.
Single life was so enjoyable that she put marriage, and even romance, on the back burner, while she went about the world having a great time. Then, while on vacation in Venice, she met a tall, dark handsome Venetian artist, who changed all her ideas in a moment, and proposed on the second day. Three months later they were married. Her friends said a whirlwind romance would never last, but they celebrated their 25 anniversary, they are still married, still happy and in love.
After 13 years on the magazine Christine decided that it was now or never if she was ever going to write that novel. So she wrote Legacy of Fire which became a Silhouette Special Edition, followed by another, Enchantment in Venice. Then she did something crazy gave up her job. Since then she has concentrated entirely on writing romances for Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Silhouette and has written over 75 books. Her settings have been European and her heroes mainly English or Italian. Christine now claims to be an expert on one particular subject. Italian men are the most romantic in the world. They are also the best cooks.
A few years ago she and her husband returned to Venice and lived there for a couple of years. This proved the perfect base for exploring the rest of Italy, and she has given many of her books Italian settings: Venice (of course), Rome, Florence, Milan, Sicily, Tuscany. She has also used the Rhine in Germany for Song of the Lorelei, for which she won her first RITA Award, in 1991. Her second RITA came in 1998, with His Brother's Child, set in Rome.
Eventually Christine Fiorotto and her husband returned to England, where they now live. She write and he paints, they have no children, but have a cat and a dog.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 5, 2018
I can't believe I read this. I was looking through my computer library and I saw it and opened it and for some reason I just started reading it before I even read the blurb. And I must say I ended up liking it. Not loving it but liking. I really adored the hero and I also liked the hero's ex wife. She was quite the character too. And an integral part of getting the separated lovers back together. I wasn't quite sure at first if she was evil or really trying to help the family because it came out of left field. It caught me off guard but I ended up really enjoying that part.
The plot was that the j and the H were going to get married very young. The h was not my favorite person. She was 17 going on 12 and acted like an idiot. She ended up breaking the hero's heart and they broke up. He went on to become a very famous children's doctor and she married two deadbeats and having a daughter with a heart problem. She was broke, unhapppy, living in a bedsit and had a part time job being a beautician. The hero married the niece of the Head doctor basically to get ahead and he had a son that he neglected who was the same approximate age as the heroines. His divorce had just been finalized weeks before the the heroine brought her child to his hospital for a heart transplant. He saw her and acted like he didn't know her but he did. He helped her out a lot and asked for nothing in return. He loved her so much. She knew she made a big mistake so many years ago but she still annoyed me to no end. It was a good story actually and even though I hate the fact that they weren't celibate while apart, it actually didn't bother me as much for some reason. It was very different and like I said his ex-wife was a hoot. It's very tame and not steamy at all.
The plot was that the j and the H were going to get married very young. The h was not my favorite person. She was 17 going on 12 and acted like an idiot. She ended up breaking the hero's heart and they broke up. He went on to become a very famous children's doctor and she married two deadbeats and having a daughter with a heart problem. She was broke, unhapppy, living in a bedsit and had a part time job being a beautician. The hero married the niece of the Head doctor basically to get ahead and he had a son that he neglected who was the same approximate age as the heroines. His divorce had just been finalized weeks before the the heroine brought her child to his hospital for a heart transplant. He saw her and acted like he didn't know her but he did. He helped her out a lot and asked for nothing in return. He loved her so much. She knew she made a big mistake so many years ago but she still annoyed me to no end. It was a good story actually and even though I hate the fact that they weren't celibate while apart, it actually didn't bother me as much for some reason. It was very different and like I said his ex-wife was a hoot. It's very tame and not steamy at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2017
Ohh god, LG walks all over your heart and you don't even realise how bad it is. This story made me very saaaad. Even the HEA could not compensate for the horrible things they said to each other. And what's the most ridiculous thing? They love each other all along and its believable nothing sugar coated there.
I think LG wrote a piece of 'Fate plays bitch'.
God, did she have to make things that awful?
H is the heart surgeon who is operating on h's daughter. h is broken in every possible way, homeless and penny less. So H creates this fantasy that she is needed as a housekeeper for a friend who is abroad, actually its his house and he stays in his apartment so he could help her without hurting her pride. Not for too long anyway when h finds out its his house, they say horrible things to each other and H leaves the house . When h finally finds a place to move H's ex wife returns and drops her son and takes off to get married. < H's ex wife is selfish but she plays guardian angel, I think she is one happy character who made me smile beside the children >
So h becomes housekeeper cum childminder, h helps H bond with his son and after playing good samaritans for a while, they get together. Again thanks to H's ex wife's intrusion. For me H's ex wife is star of the novel even if she is selfish enough dump her son on H to get hold of a rich husband.
And all this highly emotional stuff enough to give me a headache with sore heart didn't have a proper closure. Ending was abrupt , no epilogue. I know I should not expect epilogues from LG but still after such emotional torture I was hoping for a cute ending. Pff.
I think LG wrote a piece of 'Fate plays bitch'.
God, did she have to make things that awful?
H is the heart surgeon who is operating on h's daughter. h is broken in every possible way, homeless and penny less. So H creates this fantasy that she is needed as a housekeeper for a friend who is abroad, actually its his house and he stays in his apartment so he could help her without hurting her pride. Not for too long anyway when h finds out its his house, they say horrible things to each other and H leaves the house . When h finally finds a place to move H's ex wife returns and drops her son and takes off to get married. < H's ex wife is selfish but she plays guardian angel, I think she is one happy character who made me smile beside the children >
So h becomes housekeeper cum childminder, h helps H bond with his son and after playing good samaritans for a while, they get together. Again thanks to H's ex wife's intrusion. For me H's ex wife is star of the novel even if she is selfish enough dump her son on H to get hold of a rich husband.
And all this highly emotional stuff enough to give me a headache with sore heart didn't have a proper closure. Ending was abrupt , no epilogue. I know I should not expect epilogues from LG but still after such emotional torture I was hoping for a cute ending. Pff.
July 17, 2022
3½ Stars ~ Ms Gordon doesn't hold back the emotional punches in this romance. This is also a reunion story with two tortured characters struggling to fix the messes they've made of their lives.
Using flashbacks, Ms Gordon gives us almost two romances. The first happening when Elinor just turns 17 and Andrew at 26 just having become a doctor, though continuing on to special as a cardio-thoracic surgeon. He'd really hadn't the time to have a romance, but one look at the spirited and beautiful Ellie sharing 17th birthday celebrations with his sister Grace, and he's besotted. He realizes that Ellie is a hands off, she's too young and he can't afford the distraction. Ellie has other ideas and challenged by her friends, she pursues Andrew.
Ellie's full of first experiences and she wants Andrew, but he's a chivalrous young man and takes it slow. He's also a methodical man, and he soon has a path for their future together all plotted out. They'll marry very soon, and while he builds his career, she'll be there to bolster him up as his wife and the mother of his children. Ellie, on the other hand, is honest with herself and wants to have fun, and a future of house cleaning and changing nappies just doesn't cut it. Unfortunately, she expresses her frustrations with Andrew's need to control her, with a young man who wants her for himself. Jack doesn't hesitate to intimate to Andrew that Ellie wants fun and reveals that she'd only went out with him because her friends had dared her. That moment, that look on Andrew's face when he learns that the love of his life has only been playing a game, is something that has haunted Elinor always. Sadly, too late, she realizes she really had loved Andrew, she just wasn't ready for his type of future. Both forced themselves to get on with life.
Ellie and Jack went to London, and had a disastrous marriage and promptly ended. A few years later, she'd married again. With the exception of the birth of her daughter, Hetta, this marriage too is a disaster. When Hetta's heart weakened, Tom left and Ellie divorced him for abandonment. Struggling to make ends meet and to care for her daughter, Ellie's forced to move them into a single room in a boarding house. It's a godsend that her landlady, Daisy, adores Hetta and cares for her when Ellie works. With Hetta's health worsening, she becomes the patient of the Chief Cardio-Thoracic surgeon, Sir Elmer Rylance, at the children's hospital, who happens to be Andrew's boss. Seven year old Hetta needs a new heart.
Andrew worked hard to become the top of his field and to be trained directly under Sir Elmer. He'd charmed Sir Elmer's niece and married her, telling himself that he did love her but also well aware that she was a pawn in his career plans. Andrew's drive as a surgeon always seemed to put Myra and his son's Simon needs second. And the marriage drifted apart, until finally neither cared to hide the fact that they were living apart. Myra in the family home on the outskirts of London, and Andrew at a convenient apartment close to the hospital. Andrew now finds himself a divorced man with the luxurious home his wife did not want, a strained relationship with his seven year old son, and the possibility of becoming Chief within reach upon Sir Elmer's retirement.
And so twelve years after the 17 year old Ellie broke proud 26 year old Andrew's heart, they are destined to meet again. Sir Elmer has taken ill with a long lasting flu, and so it's Andrew's place to inform Elinor that a heart has been found for her daughter. When he refers to her only as Mrs. Landers, Elinor is sure Andrew hasn't recognized her, for gone is her spark, her hair and skin show the signs of her worry and hardship. Hetta's operation is a huge success, and Elinor is allowed to stay over night with her in the ICU. Once in the children's ward, Elinor goes home to Daisy, and finally after weeks of recovery, Hetta's deemed fit to go home. Only the afternoon before her release, Daisy arrives at the hospital with Elinor and Hetta's belongings packed up in cases. There was a fire at the boarding house, and it's deemed unfit to live in. When a night nurse notices Elinor hanging around and the cases she hide beneath Hetta's bed, she discovers that the mother and child are now homeless and insists that children's services must be called in the morning. Overwhelmed, Elinor fleas only to be discovered by Andrew in the hospital garden crying in fits. He lets her bawl it out and takes her back the ward to collect her belongings and he informs the nurse that all is in hand, and children's services will not be called. Leading Elinor to his office, he tells her to sleep on the couch and in the morning he'll have a solution. Andrew takes Elinor and Hetta to his country home, misleading her that the home belongs to a friend who needs someone to house sit while on an extended trip. It's a perfect situation, until Elinor catches out the lie. A hotel room beside Daisy's has come available and Elinor and Hetta prepare to move. Again there's a screw in the works, for out of the blue a gorgeous woman arrives and tells her she's Andrew's ex Myra and that Andrew is due to have quality time with his son while she's off in America getting married and honeymooning. Andrew is desperate, Myra has threatened that if he doesn't take charge of Simon now, she'll take the boy to America and Andrew will never see him again. So Elinor agrees to a formal arrangement of housekeeper and child minder, and Andrew is to move back into the home and arrange time away from the job.
As in every good Harlequin, Andrew and Ellie do find their second chance. Surprisingly, it's with the helping push from ex Myra that finally clinches their reunion. There is angst a plenty in the romance and at times even I felt overwhelmed with all the obstacles thrown at Ellie. But she wasn't self pitying, but rather self blaming, and determined to succeed for her daughter's sake. Andrew's portrayed as super controlled, but even he has moments of self reflection and self blame for his past. At one point, he acknowledges that the younger Andrew had been a better man. An epilogue would have been lovely and would have given proof of the HEA.
Using flashbacks, Ms Gordon gives us almost two romances. The first happening when Elinor just turns 17 and Andrew at 26 just having become a doctor, though continuing on to special as a cardio-thoracic surgeon. He'd really hadn't the time to have a romance, but one look at the spirited and beautiful Ellie sharing 17th birthday celebrations with his sister Grace, and he's besotted. He realizes that Ellie is a hands off, she's too young and he can't afford the distraction. Ellie has other ideas and challenged by her friends, she pursues Andrew.
Like children squabbling in the playground, she thought, years later. That was the level of the conversation that had ultimately broken a man’s heart.
Ellie's full of first experiences and she wants Andrew, but he's a chivalrous young man and takes it slow. He's also a methodical man, and he soon has a path for their future together all plotted out. They'll marry very soon, and while he builds his career, she'll be there to bolster him up as his wife and the mother of his children. Ellie, on the other hand, is honest with herself and wants to have fun, and a future of house cleaning and changing nappies just doesn't cut it. Unfortunately, she expresses her frustrations with Andrew's need to control her, with a young man who wants her for himself. Jack doesn't hesitate to intimate to Andrew that Ellie wants fun and reveals that she'd only went out with him because her friends had dared her. That moment, that look on Andrew's face when he learns that the love of his life has only been playing a game, is something that has haunted Elinor always. Sadly, too late, she realizes she really had loved Andrew, she just wasn't ready for his type of future. Both forced themselves to get on with life.
Ellie and Jack went to London, and had a disastrous marriage and promptly ended. A few years later, she'd married again. With the exception of the birth of her daughter, Hetta, this marriage too is a disaster. When Hetta's heart weakened, Tom left and Ellie divorced him for abandonment. Struggling to make ends meet and to care for her daughter, Ellie's forced to move them into a single room in a boarding house. It's a godsend that her landlady, Daisy, adores Hetta and cares for her when Ellie works. With Hetta's health worsening, she becomes the patient of the Chief Cardio-Thoracic surgeon, Sir Elmer Rylance, at the children's hospital, who happens to be Andrew's boss. Seven year old Hetta needs a new heart.
Andrew worked hard to become the top of his field and to be trained directly under Sir Elmer. He'd charmed Sir Elmer's niece and married her, telling himself that he did love her but also well aware that she was a pawn in his career plans. Andrew's drive as a surgeon always seemed to put Myra and his son's Simon needs second. And the marriage drifted apart, until finally neither cared to hide the fact that they were living apart. Myra in the family home on the outskirts of London, and Andrew at a convenient apartment close to the hospital. Andrew now finds himself a divorced man with the luxurious home his wife did not want, a strained relationship with his seven year old son, and the possibility of becoming Chief within reach upon Sir Elmer's retirement.
And so twelve years after the 17 year old Ellie broke proud 26 year old Andrew's heart, they are destined to meet again. Sir Elmer has taken ill with a long lasting flu, and so it's Andrew's place to inform Elinor that a heart has been found for her daughter. When he refers to her only as Mrs. Landers, Elinor is sure Andrew hasn't recognized her, for gone is her spark, her hair and skin show the signs of her worry and hardship. Hetta's operation is a huge success, and Elinor is allowed to stay over night with her in the ICU. Once in the children's ward, Elinor goes home to Daisy, and finally after weeks of recovery, Hetta's deemed fit to go home. Only the afternoon before her release, Daisy arrives at the hospital with Elinor and Hetta's belongings packed up in cases. There was a fire at the boarding house, and it's deemed unfit to live in. When a night nurse notices Elinor hanging around and the cases she hide beneath Hetta's bed, she discovers that the mother and child are now homeless and insists that children's services must be called in the morning. Overwhelmed, Elinor fleas only to be discovered by Andrew in the hospital garden crying in fits. He lets her bawl it out and takes her back the ward to collect her belongings and he informs the nurse that all is in hand, and children's services will not be called. Leading Elinor to his office, he tells her to sleep on the couch and in the morning he'll have a solution. Andrew takes Elinor and Hetta to his country home, misleading her that the home belongs to a friend who needs someone to house sit while on an extended trip. It's a perfect situation, until Elinor catches out the lie. A hotel room beside Daisy's has come available and Elinor and Hetta prepare to move. Again there's a screw in the works, for out of the blue a gorgeous woman arrives and tells her she's Andrew's ex Myra and that Andrew is due to have quality time with his son while she's off in America getting married and honeymooning. Andrew is desperate, Myra has threatened that if he doesn't take charge of Simon now, she'll take the boy to America and Andrew will never see him again. So Elinor agrees to a formal arrangement of housekeeper and child minder, and Andrew is to move back into the home and arrange time away from the job.
As in every good Harlequin, Andrew and Ellie do find their second chance. Surprisingly, it's with the helping push from ex Myra that finally clinches their reunion. There is angst a plenty in the romance and at times even I felt overwhelmed with all the obstacles thrown at Ellie. But she wasn't self pitying, but rather self blaming, and determined to succeed for her daughter's sake. Andrew's portrayed as super controlled, but even he has moments of self reflection and self blame for his past. At one point, he acknowledges that the younger Andrew had been a better man. An epilogue would have been lovely and would have given proof of the HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 29, 2020
Great book
I loved this book - aching for the hero and heroine, laughing at the ex, admiring their strengths and convictions. I just wish Nurse Stewart would have been put in her place a bit more.
I loved this book - aching for the hero and heroine, laughing at the ex, admiring their strengths and convictions. I just wish Nurse Stewart would have been put in her place a bit more.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews